Nut harvesting machine



y 25, 1954 A. o. SODE RHOLM 2,679,133

NUT HARVESTING MACHINE Filed Jan. 7. 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. AXEl o. SODERHOLM ATTORNEY May 25, 1954 A. o. SODERHOLM 2,679,133

NUT HARVESTING MACHINE Filed Jan. '7, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 WWIIIIIIIIIIIII iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiillli INVEN TOR. AXEL. O. SODERHOLM AT TORNEY May 25, 1954 Filed Jan. 7, 1952 A. o. SODERHOLM 2,679,133

NUT HARVESTING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 ATTORNEY y 25, 1954 A. o. SODERHOLM 4 2,679,133

NUT HARVESTING MACHINE Fil ed Jan. 7, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR.

AX EL 0. SODERHOLM ATTORNEY Patented May 25, 1954 @PATENT OFFICE .ing ,of .a machine tforrgathering,huskinggand .,cleaning.,-nuts,that.iscornpact, making iteasy to .maneuver ,in .the .orchard and underv its QW power.

Ehesesand .other zincidentaljobjects .Will be :apparent .in .;the drawings, specification and .claim.

,Referring .to the drawings:

.Figure 1 is aflplanviewioftmy new andjmproved nut gathering, huskin'g and cleanin -machine with partsbrokenavvay.

.-Figure 2 .zisia. rear, view or figure. 1.

I Figure fi i .a .frQntv ew f; Fi ure s1.

Fig res is .anenlarge .detailJra menta view of the-husking belts,,;taken on;;l ine;.-;l 4 .of Figure= 9.

-;Figure-4A is a detail sectional. view,;.t-aken.. qn lineAA-AApf Figure, 4.

Figure 5 is a..sig1e,view taigen iqn tine-5: 5 .of' ft s r p t ar imad e llu tra r; power transmission system.

fig e i tie wfrqmcth oppos t -side. th machi Figure 7Qis an enlarged iregnientary se tional detail of thelcqnveycr fordelive mg the; it to t setk ne st i ns aken en-1 1 :l.-' .iire l p Pliligure :i an e lar e fir arm be r. sectional ,view, Itaken on line 8- 8 Fig e;- 7 Figure 9' is a' side. elevaticnal view, similar; 'to Eli-sure 5, but with I arts broken away and short/ n 1 s ti i show-the gene l P s? d t re-easin i Figure 10 is a plan view ofthe dirt removing screens, .husking conveyor belt, togeth v h the me 'e x Qv ns-.= c' eeh- Figure 1'1-;is a perspective fragmentary cietail 5.4 Referring more specifically to the drawings: My new and improveginu't gathering and husk- :ing machine consists of-three major-units. First ==t he gatheringunit A, consisting of a gatherin belt and dirt removing screen; ;a husking-unit-B,

consisting of a bushing screen belt and a conveycr belt; the third unit -C, which consists of a a lower unit for removing the trash.

All of these units are mounted to a base-frame l,.--having asuperstructural; framework-2. ihe

hase frame-is mounted to the supporting and driving wheels 3 by way of the differential axle Theforwarcl end-of the frame I is n iounted upon .the wheels :5, which arejournal1ed=t0 the cross 15- .steering mechanism-associatedwit11 fthe steering beamii. These wheelsare steerable by the usual wheel 1.

-: I will first describe the gathering scoop A which .consistsofside irames-or-plates which are spaced apart by the sbreaderbar e at their upper Lends and the spreader ber'22 at their lower enqs,

. as well. asbeing spaced ap trtby "the cross shafts it; i i .ancl I 2. :These cross shafts are "journalled in bearings l3, ani-have s orocketslfiA lceyed thereto aboutfiwhich .the conveyor chain 14 is trained. The. conveyonchein ili has transverse v ang'leIbars lifixedly secured; to the. said chains. JFlat flexible fingers t 93, preferably -of a rubber .material are fixedly secured to thecross bars i5, 30-.

cmaterial .is :slitted at: l I which creates the flexible efingers .ifiwhilethe solid portion of thematerial as best illustrated; in-Figures Band-14. The-flat .is rivetedorotherwise secured'to the cross bars 5. Lhave found: inoperation that it is 'aclv-isable to raise the forwardshaft-EZ above the shaft H, ,creating a space: i8 intewhich the nuts enter on =.the.forWard. movement of the scoop. The tips .ohthe fingers l E approaching-the nuts and ground surface l9, scrape or rake the nutsfrom the s-saidiiground surface .onto thescreen 26, consist- .ingoibarszz irunning parallel to each-cther and slongitudinallybf the direction of movement of A3113 imohile support. These bars aresecured to the spreader bar 9 at their upper ends an d to the ethiccider-bar;22 .at their lower ends. =Thescreen -20 .cloes-not .pass the nuts but permits the passage and. discharge .of. :ciirtand loose solidmaterials from the nuts being. gathered.

- Tnehusking, unit consists of side frames-23,

secured ,to..the iranievvoricZ. The frames 23 extend tothe rear 0f=th.i1'i3iChin8..nC3iSing the cleanin unit C as well. The bus-king unitconsistsoi a .beltscreen Mtrained about thesprockets fifi anrlwhich-in turn are. keyed tothe cross r28, j our-nailed. within h a ngs; 2 9 7; edlyesecured -.t0- the..sideiranieslfi in the usual manner. The screen 24 has transverse rods or bars 38 fixedly secured thereto which assist in the bushing of the nuts.

Chains 3! are trained about sprockets 33 and 34, which are keyed to the cross shafts 35 and 35, which are journalled within the bearings H3. The chains 3i, as best shown in Figures 4 and 4A, have cross bars 37 fixedly mounted thereon which carry the fingers 38. The cross bar and finger construction in this chain assembly is identical to that of the pick-up fingers it, as illustrated in Figures 13 and 14. The detail operation of this husking unit will be described later.

I will now describe the cleaning unit C. The cleaning unit C includes a blower fan as having a housing 48 and blade assembly d! mounted to the shaft 42, which is journalled within bearings 43 in the usual manner. A screen 44 consisting of spaced parallel rods 45 is mounted across the nozzle 48 of the blower unit as best illustrated in Figures 9 and 10. The nuts are delivered from the husking unit on to the screen 44, after which they are delivered by the chute ll into the screw conveyor 43, which will deliver them to the sack-- ing unit to be described later.

I will now describe the operation of my new and improved nut gathering, husking and cleaning machine. A power plant or motor it is mounted to the platform 50 and is adapted to operate the above described units A and B. It is also adapted to move the machine over the ground surface. Referring to Figures 1, 2 and 5, the motor shaft 51 drives the V-belts 52, which in turn drive the transmission 53, the forty-five degree gear unit 54, which leads to the differential gear box 55.

The V-belts are brought into operation by the tightener pulley 55, referring to Figure 5, and the lever 57, which is pivoted at 59 to the framework 2. The lever 51 is operated by the hand lever 59 and the link 60. The machine can be moved either forward or backwards by the trans mission 53 at various speeds.

The conveyor chain [4, the husking screen 24 and the conveyor chain 3| are driven from the motor 49 by way of the V-belts 61, which drive the countershaft 62, referring to Figures 1 and 5. The shaft 35 of the conveyor chain 3! is driven from the countershaft 62 by the chain 63. The shaft 34 of the conveyor chain 3! is adapted to drive the shaft iii of the gathering chain M. by way of the chain 64. The shaft '35 also drives the shaft 2'! of the husking screen 24 by way of the chain 65, referring to Figure 1.

The husking screen 24 is adapted to travel at a relatively slow rate of speed in comparison to the fingers 38 so that the nuts will be rolled over the surface of the husking screen as indicated in Figure 4A, thereby removing the husks from the nut, although I do not wish to be limited to using a driven screen 25, as I have had excellent results with a stationary screen over which the nuts are rolled by the fingers 33.

The gathering fingers it, the huslring screen 24 and the gathering fingers 38 are set in motion by the belt tightener pulley 66 being tightened against the v-belt 8| by the lever control 57, referring to Figure 5. As the machine moves forward the fingers 68, formed on the side members 8 of the gathering scoop, direct the windrows of nuts into the space is under the fingers i s where they are picked up by the said fingers, carried over the screen 20 where the dirt falls through, delivered onto the stationary screen as mounted ,to the forward end of thehusking unit B. The

fingers 38 of the husking unit pick up the nuts at this point, together with the lighter materials. forcing them over the surface of the husking screen 24, which as stated above, the said husking screen travels at a much less rate of speed, therefore the nuts are rolled over the screen and the cross bars 38 by the fingers 38 removing the husks therefrom.

When the nuts reach the point of delivery from the screen 24, they land on the screen 44 by way of the chute iii. The blower blades 4! deliver air through the nozzle 46 of the blower unit up through the screen 44. This separates leaves and light material from the nuts, blowing the same out the opening 'H To prevent the whole nuts from being blown out with the lighter material, a revolving screen 72 is rotated in the path of the air stream from the blower blades ii as best illustrated in Figure 9. The light or cull nuts are blown out the opening ll with the lighter material, providing a separation from the whole nuts.

The nuts are delivered from the screen 44 on to the chute 47 and into the screw conveyor 43 and delivered into the conveyor 73, which has a conveyor chain 74 with cross blades l5 trained about the sprockets it. A screen unit Tl, consisting of semi-circular bars 78 helps to prevent leaves, if any, from passing through into the delivery spouts M. A solid cap 89 is provided for capping the screen Ti, preventing the nuts from entering the delivery spout 59.

In case the cleaning has not been completed, the nuts can be delivered through the spout Bi back to the husking screen or belt 24. The usual by-pass chute 82 is provided for transferring the bags in the filling operation from one delivery spout to the other. The shaft 42 of the blower blades ti is driven from the auxiliary motor 83 by way of the chain 84. The chain it within the conveyor '13 is driven from the shaft 35 by Way of the chain 35, which drives the upper shaft 8%; of the said conveyor E3. The screw conveyor 4c is driven by the shaft 8? of the conveyor 13 by the chain 88, while the shaft 89 of the rotating screen 72 is driven by the chain 90 from the shaft 9! of the screw conveyor.

I will now describe the method of mounting the conveyor scoop A to the machine so that the same can adapt itself to the contour of the ground surface, and also so that it can be raised and lowered out of and into operating position. Referring to Figures 1, 5, 9 and 12, the upper end of the scoop assembly is pivotally mounted to the cross member 92 of the frame I by the universal member 93, which is pivotally mounted to the cross member 92 at 9 3, and to the cross shaft 9i; at 96, the cross shaft 95 being clamped to the underside of the said frames 8 by the clamps 91. This permits the scoop to be raised and lowered and also to pivot about the longitudinal line of the machine, levelling itself on the ground surface.

The scoop is raised and lowered by the lever 38, which is keyed to the cross shaft 99, the said shaft being journalled in upwardly extending brackets Hit. A crank It! is fixedly secured to the shaft 99 at its one end, and is connected to the cross bar 152 by way of the chain Hi3 at its opposite end. The cross bar being fixedly secured to the side plates of the scoop. A spring Hi l connects to the frame I at I 95 and to the lever 98 at I06 offsetting the Weight of the forward end of the scoop while the scoop is in running position. i

When it is desired to raise the forward end of the scoop, the lever 98, Figure 5, is moved in the direction of the arrow past the cross shaft 99 where it will remain until loosened. Shoes 161 are fixedly mounted to the forward end of the scoop and ride over the ground surface supporting the said scoop.

What I claim is:

A nut harvesting machine comprising a mobile support including a main frame, a gathering unit on the front of said frame and including an inclined screen and a pick-up conveyor, said screen being positioned with its lower, forward end substantially at ground level and being adapted to support nuts and having openings for discharging dirt and refuse, said pick-up conveyor comprising an endless support movably mounted above said screen and having cross-bars extending perpendicularly therefrom with the free edges of said cross-bars immediately adjacent said screen to engage and drag nuts along said screen, the front end of said pick-up conveyor extending beyond the lower front end of said screen with said cross-bars extending substantially to ground level to rake nuts up onto said screen, said gathering unit comprising a subframe universally mounted at its rear end to said main frame, a crank shaft journalled on said main frame above said gathering unit, a crank handle and a crank arm on said crank shaft, a connection between said crank arm and said sub-frame for varying the elevation of said sub-frame by operation of said crank handle, a spring between said crank handle and said main frame for counterbalancing said sub-frame, ground runners at the forward end of said sub-frame, said inclined screen comprising a grill composed of spaced longitudinally disposed rods carried by said subframe, said pick-up conveyor being mounted in said sub-frame and said cross-bars being movable along the upper side of said screen, the front end of said pick-up conveyor being trained about sprockets which are disposed immediately in front of said grill and at a level at which the free edges of said conveyor cross-bars are substantially level with the bottom of said ground runners, said cross-bars comprising rigid bars extending perpendicularly from said support and flexible fingers carried by said cross-bars and extending beyond the free edges of said crossbars.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 567,372 Beach Sept. 8, 1896 612,744 Methven et a1 Oct. 18, 1898 1,200,092 Elliott et al. Oct. 3, 1916 1,540,955 Ross June 9, 1925 1,564,914 Vaughan Dec. 8, 1925 1,907,467 Tervo et a1. May 9, 1933 2,031,810 Anderson Feb. 25, 1936 2,052,718 Maiers Sept. 1, 1936 2,172,507 Grignolo Sept. 12, 1939 2,230,139 Gustin Jan. 28, 1941 2,388,454 Weeth et al. Nov. 6, 1945 2,514,945 Fortier July 11, 1950 2,529,620 Marnach et a1. Nov. 14, 1950 2,562,775 Crull July 31, 1951 2,643,754 Doak June 20, 1953 

